Garsiliato Castle and archaeological site in C.da Salamone
Note: Provisional georeferencing
In the Salomone district, a few kilometers from the town of Mazzarino, the ruins of the medieval castle of Garsiliato or Grassuliato or Saliato are visible or, much more familiarly for the locals, Castiddazzu.
Also in the same district there is a structure with a circular plan with fragments of the Castelluccian age (ancient bronze 2200-1400 BC); attendance of Greek age; inhabited area (church building and bell-shaped cistern).
Chronology:
In 1091 - in a list of donations made to the church of Santa Maria della Valle di Giosafat appears, together with Enrico de Bufera and Girondus de Mazarina, the name of Salomon de Garsiliat; it seems that Solomon was the son of Guigone de Garsiliat.
In 1150 ca. - Idrisi mentions the farmhouse of Gar(or qasr) Saliatah twelve miles to the east from Butera.
In 1162 - William I destroyed Grassuliato following the revolt against the king of the castellan Bartolomeo di Grassuliato.
In 1199 - Grassuliato is granted to Bartolomeo da Amalfi.
In 1240 - the castle has no means of subsistence as complained by Giacomo da Lentini, its guardian, in a letter to the court. With the provision of Frederick II, it is disposed to provide promptly prò munitione castri our Garsiliato.
In 1274 - Grassuliato is counted among the state-owned castles: castrum Garsiliatae per castellanum unum militem et serventies quattuor.
In the XIV century - under king Martino I the feud and the fortress of Grassuliato passed from Ruggero Passaneto to Raffaello Branciforti.
In 1392 - Nicolo Branciforte is lord of Grassuliato and Mazzarino.
In 1507 - Nicolo Melchiorre Branciforti becomes the first count of Mazzarino and Grassuliato.
In 1550 ca. - probably the castle is already abandoned; Fazello quotes "the small fortified center of Grassuliato with its fortress"Eighteen miles from Biscari - Fazello, I, p. 477.
The depopulation of the fiefdom of Grassuliato dates back to the XNUMXth century with the transfer of the vassals to nearby Mazzarino.
Card insertion: Ignazio Caloggero
Information contributions: Ignazio Caloggero Web,
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